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Context Matters for Social-Emotional Learning: Examining Variation in Program Impact by Dimensions of School Climate

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

This paper examines whether three dimensions of school climate—leadership, accountability, and safety/respect—moderated the impacts of the INSIGHTS program on students’ social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. Twenty-two urban schools and N = 435 low-income racial/ethnic minority students were enrolled in the study and received intervention services across the course of 2 years, in both kindergarten and first grade. Intervention effects on math and reading achievement were larger for students enrolled in schools with lower overall levels of leadership, accountability, and safety/respect at baseline. Program impacts on disruptive behaviors were greater in schools with lower levels of accountability at baseline; impacts on sustained attention were greater in schools with lower levels of safety/respect at baseline. Implications for Social-Emotional Learning program implementation, replication, and scale-up are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was conducted as a part of a study funded by Grant R305A080512 from the Institute of Education Sciences and with the support of Institute of Education Sciences Grant R305B080019 to New York University. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the US Department of Education. The writing of this study was supported by an American Psychological Foundation Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Dissertation Fellowship and a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. Additional research costs were supported with dissertation grants from the Society for Research on Child Development and the New York Community Trust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MDRC, 16 East 34th St., New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Meghan P. McCormick

  2. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Elise Cappella & Sandee G. McClowry

  3. Department of Teaching and Learning, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Erin E. O’Connor

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  1. Meghan P. McCormick
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  2. Elise Cappella
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McCormick, M.P., Cappella, E., O’Connor, E.E. et al. Context Matters for Social-Emotional Learning: Examining Variation in Program Impact by Dimensions of School Climate. Am J Community Psychol 56, 101–119 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9733-z

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